Whether you are a retailer or a consumer, it’s important to know the facts about creditcardskimmers. As described by @NACSonline, skimming is the method by which [criminals] obtain customer card data from the magnetic strip to create a counterfeit card to use either online or in stores. With EMV compliance just 18 months away, “the window of opportunity for thieves to get this data is closing.”

Nacsonline article featuring contributors Paige Anderson and Linda Toth, it points out that retailers have many options to protect their business from skimming; however, the one action every retailer can take is changing out the universal locks on their fuel dispensers.

“Making sure those locks are unique is one basic security requirement…it doesn’t cost much and can be done easily,” said Anderson.

If you are reading this and don’t own a convenience store you may think this doesn’t apply to you. True, skimming may not effect your business but if your use a credit card to purchase fuel, it could have a very negative effect on your bank account. As consumers we all need to be aware of these criminals and know what to look for. Seriously, we are all very busy and who has extra hours of time to fight credit card breaches? NOBODY! Below we have included a link from @Nacs TV that is very informative and shows you exactly what to look for before handing your card over to a gas pump!

Thank you NacsOnline for this article.

Partnering to Solve Childhood Hunger

This week’s Convenience Matters podcast shares how convenience stores can have a role in helping to feed hungry kids.

March 14, 2018

​ALEXANDRIA, Va. – On this week’s episode of Convenience Matters, “Convenience Stores Can Help Solve Childhood Hunger,” NACS hosts Jeff Lenard and Carolyn Schnare talk with Share Our Strength about the important role convenience stores can play in ending childhood hunger.

The statistics are heartbreaking:

One in six kids in America—

some 13 million children—

will face hunger this year.

Share Our Strength, an national anti-hunger organization, created its No Kid Hungry campaign to address that issue by working with convenience stores, restaurants and other vendors.

“Because they’re hungry, it’s impeding their learning, it’s getting in the way of them realizing their dreams,” said Clay Dunn, chief communications officer for Share Our Strength. “We as a country have plenty of food and resources to be able to feed every child and we even have programs put in place that are designed to do that, but too often those programs are failing the kids that they’re meant to serve.”

Part of the reason kids aren’t connecting with programs that have food available for them is quite simple—families aren’t aware of the program or they can’t access or get to the food distribution location. “We really look at it as access and awareness,” said Jill Davis, senior vice president of corporate partnerships for Share Our Strength. “We’re convinced that it’s a solvable problem.”

One way convenience stores can help solve the awareness and access problem is through Share Our Strength’s Dine Out for No Kid Hungry. When restaurants and retailers with foodservice sign up to participate in the initiative, Share Our Strength provides assistance to make the program successful for both the retailer’s bottom line and in helping to feed children. “We can create customized programming for that retailer …that solves your business objectives at the same time,” Davis said.

Each week a new Convenience Matters episode is released. The weekly podcast can be downloaded on iTunes, Google Play Music and Stitcher and at www.conveniencematters.com. Episodes have been downloaded by listeners more than 39,000 times in more than 95 countries.

Insight Retail Software has customers in all 50 States so please take a moment to read this article from NACS.

FDA Compliance Materials May Put Retailers at Risk

Although the FDA says the minimum age to sell tobacco and vaping products is 18, it may be different for certain states.

March 12, 2018

​ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Retailers in certain states and localities where the tobacco/e-vapor minimum-age state or local laws are 19 or 21 years old may be exposed to violations of state and FDA regulations if they use FDA’s free kit of “This is Our Watch” materials. These kits were first distributed in November 2017 and on an on-going basis.

NACS has confirmed with the FDA, and the We Card Program has confirmed with individual retailers, that the FDA sent its materials focused only on the 18-year minimum age, including a calendar to calculate carded customer’s ages, to retailers in states and localities where the minimum age is higher than 18 years old. Retailers in the seven states using the FDA’s 18-year materials will be exposed to making illegal sales to minors and the possibility of state and/or FDA fines and penalties.

Below are the seven states where retailers may be impacted:

21 year minimum-age states: California, Hawaii, Oregon, New Jersey

19 year minimum-age states: Alabama, Alaska, Utah

In addition, more than 230 counties or cities within 17 states have 19 or 21 year minimum-age requirements. See We Card’s listing of locales within states that have minimum-age laws higher than 18 years old.

We Card recommends state associations in affected states take immediate action, including:

Inform your retailer members and encourage them to examine what is used in their stores, whether it’s the new FDA 18-yearr materials or any other materials, and make sure they have what is appropriate for their stores located in states/locales where 19 or 21 year minimum-age laws apply.

Consider an email alert, website and social media alerts and all available communications outreach to your members.

Inform your retail members that We Card has the appropriate minimum-age specific versions (18, 19 or 21 year) of its We Card age calculation tools and signage, available at www.wecard.org.

Informed retailers will have immediately recognized the problem of using FDA’s 18-year materials if 19 or 21 is their state or locality’s minimum age requirement. Others may incorrectly think the federal government’s 18-year materials focus overrules their state/locality’s higher minimum-age requirement while some may inadvertently just deploy the FDA materials without checking.

It is incumbent upon the retail community to remain compliant with FDA regulations and state and local law minimum age requirements. With FDA conducting 160,000 compliance inspections annually, combined with additional state and local level enforcement, compliance and preventing illegal sales of age-restricted products remains a priority of retailers.

It’s impossible to update and brag on each and every POS / Scan Data Customer [there are too many] but when we get a great photo showing happy customers and our state-of-the-art equipment, it’s time to slow down and share. This success story comes from Jackson, Tennessee where Keith from R & D purchased a complete 2-lane POS System for each of his three stores.

Tobacco Place II

1660 S. Highland Ave – Jackson, TN 38301

Cigarettes Cheaper

2643 N. Highland Ave – Jackson TN 38305

The Smoke Shop

721 Old Hickory Blvd – Jackson, TN 38305

This POS System features:

Touch Dynamic All-in-one Terminals with a rear facing customer display Customers can easily see the items purchased and their amount due

Epson T20 printer for fast receipt printing

Reflection POS®

backOffice™ Software

Sterling Payment Technologies with full EMV Chip Card Reader

Scan Data Services for Tobacco Incentive Rebates

Call today to get a quote for your POS System with Scan Data Service. We have partnered with Sterling Payment Technologies to offer interest free financing. Give us a call for more details. Check our our website here: http://insightRS.com

On November 14, 2016 NACS Online reported that Cigarette Smoking among adults has dropped by 6% in the past 10 years. The only way for cigarette retailers to stay competitive in this market is to gain revenues from submitting their Scan Data. These programs not only pay residuals on sales, but also open up new discounts that are only available to those participating in the program.

DON’T LEAVE MONEY ON THE TABLE!

More importantly, don’t stress about

“HOW AM I GOING TO DO THIS”.

Insight Retail Software will do the work for you. Once you sign up for the program, we do the rest.

Give us a call today to discuss how this program can work for you. 518-633-4111 x 108.

CIGARETTE SMOKING DECLINES BY 8.6 MILLION

A new CDC report shows the smoking rate among U.S. adults dropped 6% from 2005 to 2015.

November 14, 2016

ATLANTA – Smokers are lighting up less in the United States, NPR reports. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the smoking rate among the adult population dropped from 21% in 2005 to 15% in 2015. The rate declined 1.7 percentage points between 2014 and 2015—a huge decrease, according to the study in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Overall, 8.6 million fewer adults are smoking today than in 2005.

With California approving a $2 per pack cigarette tax last week, health advocates predict even more Americans will kick the habit. “Raising the tobacco tax is probably the single most effective way to reduce smoking, especially among kids,” said Vincent Willmore, vice president for communication at the Center for Tobacco Free Kids.

The new report finds that the West has the lowest smoking rates, even though taxes are higher in other parts of the country. Smoking rates are the highest in the Midwest. More men smoke than women too.

As cigarette smoking has decreased in the United States, vaping has become more popular. Some researchers are considering whether smokers have simply switched to electronic cigarettes rather than given up tobacco altogether. No data supports that claim, however.

We are so excited that our Scan Data customers are receiving their rebate dollars! Join our customers across the US that are participating in the InsightRS Scan Data Service [SDS] Rebate Programs offered by Altria PM and RJ Reynolds.

InsightRS SDS collects the appropriate data and submits to inRhythm and MSA. This allows you to take advantage of this great opportunity for more profit from your tobacco sales. Using our automated daily process, we submit the necessary data for you to comply with the program requirements. We only collect 25% of your rebate for providing this service. Most importantly, this will require no additional effort from you.

KWIK TRIP RECOGNIZED FOR PROVIDING HEALTHIER OPTIONS

By June 2017, Kwik Trip will offer an expanded stock of healthier options and increase better-for-you choices in the checkout area.

February 22, 2016

​LA CROSSE, Wisc. – The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which works with the private sector and its Honorary Chair First Lady Michelle Obama to make healthier choices easier, is recognizing Kwik Trip as the first convenience store to complete its commitment to expand healthier options across its stores.

“With more consumers expecting to find fresh and healthy items on the go, the convenience store industry is in the midst of a momentous shift, one that Kwik Trip has been leading for several years now,” said PHA CEO Lawrence A. Soler. “Just a few years ago it was unusual to see fresh fruit in many convenience stores, but today, Kwik Trip sells 400 pounds of bananas per store per day. In fact, after making a commitment to PHA, Kwik Trip’s bulk produce sales grew 5.5% in 2015.”

Introducing at least four categories of fresh fruits and four categories of fresh vegetables across its stores;

Expanding its whole grain rich offerings to at least six products; and

Implementing a Healthy Concessions Program in local schools.

In addition, through its EatSmart program, designed to encourage healthier options, Kwik Trip is the first convenience store to offer a PHA-approved combo meal.

“Kwik Trip has made many advancements over the past two years to make healthier choices more convenient and accessible for our guests,” said Erica Flint, registered dietitian for Kwik Trip. “We have enjoyed working with PHA and receiving the positive feedback from guests on the programs we have implemented. We are eager to continue our partnership with PHA and get to work on our expanded commitments.”

Building upon these efforts as a part of its new commitment to PHA, by June 2017 Kwik Trip will offer an expanded stock of healthier options, including healthier packaged foods like nuts and granola bars throughout the store, and will increase healthier options in the checkout area. In addition, Kwik Trip will continue to encourage more consumers to drink water more often through its support of PHA’s Drink Up initiative.

From Sheetz on the East Coast to Kwik Trip in the Midwest to Loop stores in California, convenience stores have taken note of consumer demand for healthier options. Recognized as innovators in the foodservice industry, these stores and others, including U-Gas and Twice Daily, have teamed up with the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) to offer healthier options like fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, nonfat and low-fat dairy products and whole grain items; and they’re promoting those healthier products through marketing efforts in the store and at the pump.

And through the NACS reFresh initiative, convenience retailers are discovering new ideas that enhance their operations and communication efforts to showcase the industry’s positive business practices with the public, media and policymakers. Partnerships with groups such as PHA that share similar values are fostering best practices and making a difference.